Tuesday, 11 October 2011

‘UK biz school students can study in India'

MUMBAI: Tasmac London, which has just shut shop, has now offered their Indian students to come and study in their campuses in India. The institute's official claimed that the stringent policies could be recessionary measures taken by the government . The institute, which had the capacity of 1,200, had only half the numbers of students on their campus, affecting their business.

Tasmac London was set up by a Pune-based management institute, Tasmac Education, which also runs institutes in Pune, Kolkata and Bengaluru . Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communication (Tasmac) Limited set up its first overseas' campus in 2002 in London . However, the new visa policies set up by the UK Border Agency seems to have forced them to shut shop as their business was largely affected , the owners claimed.

Around 550 students, of which 150-200 students are Indians , are left in the lurch after the institute suddenly announced bankruptcy and shut both its campuses in London. The students were expecting the results of their exams when they got mails from the institute.

Prashant Dua, joint managing director of Tasmac, based in Pune, said, "We are in talks with a couple of institutes affiliated to the University of Wales, which have agreed to accommodate our students. We are trying to figure out how the fee aspect would be settled. Also, the university will send an email to all Indian students, inviting them to study in our Indian campuses. These students will not be charged anything. But we will not be able to help students who wish to apply outside University of Wales."

The institute offered BA (honours) for which the fee was close to Rs 12 lakh and a 16-month MBA programme for Rs 6 lakh. "The new visa policies are not getting us enough students. It could be recessionary measures taken by the government. The discontinuation of the poststudy work visa and also the new rule that does not allow students studying in private institutes to work part-time have affected the number of students applying to our institutes . Many private institutes have suffered due to the policy. We are unable to raise funds," said Dua.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) is taking keen interest to ensure that Indian students are not inconvenienced . MEA spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash, said, "The Indian High Commission is in touch with Tasmac officials, who have conveyed that they are working with the University of Wales to transfer the students to other institutes. The IHC officials have also visited the campus and plan to meet the UK Border Agency soon. They have asked students to get in touch with the commission's office for assistance . However, none of the students have contacted yet."